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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
adventurous
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
4 ⭐️
Let me be clear—I enjoyed this a lot. That being said, I had two major complaints: 1. Not enough Luther and, 2. Way too much Henri. 🤭
I really enjoyed the characters developed here; I felt like (while Diem annoyed me at times), her reactions were reasonable and made sense in the context of her situation. I think she was a bit willfully blind at times, but I did think it made sense contextually for her to be this way. As far as the men in her life, I enjoyed Luther and his brooding quite a bit (but see point 1 above—I felt like he didn’t get as much page time as I would have liked. Good thing this is only book one!) All of the side characters felt realistic and well-developed.
The plot was very intriguing and I know I had a lot of questions pretty much the entire time. I feel like the best way to describe the pacing of this book was a slow (but quite enjoyable) crawl until about 85% when things start to spark (see what I did there? 🤭)
I also really enjoyed the world-building and thought the concepts that were discussed were really intriguing to chew on—like the nature of violence & choosing your own path.
That being said, I would recommend this to romantasy lovers who enjoy a slower pace and lots of tension building. I think if you enjoyed the pacing of Shield of Sparrows, you’d enjoy this one as well!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
this book is just ... boring. Every tired trope in the world, plus the only interesting character is Henri, but he is set up to be a fall guy for daring to rise up against the 'descended' or whatever the fae race is called.
Diem has super powers but is also dumb as a brick.
The book has no redeeming qualities and it's too derivative as a story to be batshit crazy.
Diem has super powers but is also dumb as a brick.
The book has no redeeming qualities and it's too derivative as a story to be batshit crazy.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is honestly the true definition of a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers fantasy! It's more plot driven and the character dynamics make it so easy to get immersed into the story and world. It feels as if we, the reader, are evolving along with Diem, the protagonist. I am looking forward to continuing the series because I need answers!!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
This book felt more like a prequel than the first in the series. Sometimes the world building felt like it was being told to me rather than shown through character actions or dialogue which is not my favorite. FMC felt very young and immature in her actions. Still interested continuing the story in the next book.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I've been reading lots of dark Halloween romances recently so this was a refreshing read, I enjoyed it through out and would definitely recommend this to others!
Please tell me Diem’s pov gets better in the next books, PLEASE!!!
I was honestly bored until about 80% in - the worldbuilding and events felt messy and hard to follow, mostly because too much was going on and everything stayed surface level for me. But at least characters and their motivations were explained well.
Diem constantly changing her mind and second-guessing every decision got tiring fast. I get that it’s meant to build emotional depth, but it started feeling repetitive. She felt too naive, or even sometimes childish, and her conscience too good to be true.
That said, I loved the gryvern detail at the end - one of the few parts that actually gave me chills. And the last 20%? It felt like a completely different (and much better) book. The pacing and writing finally hooked me.
As for the romance... this isn’t a slow burn, it’s burning me slowly. I was really hoping for just a little more.
I was honestly bored until about 80% in - the worldbuilding and events felt messy and hard to follow, mostly because too much was going on and everything stayed surface level for me. But at least characters and their motivations were explained well.
Diem constantly changing her mind and second-guessing every decision got tiring fast. I get that it’s meant to build emotional depth, but it started feeling repetitive. She felt too naive, or even sometimes childish, and her conscience too good to be true.
That said, I loved the gryvern detail at the end - one of the few parts that actually gave me chills. And the last 20%? It felt like a completely different (and much better) book. The pacing and writing finally hooked me.
As for the romance... this isn’t a slow burn, it’s burning me slowly. I was really hoping for just a little more.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes